Here comes Summer

 

Cornwall much beloved by artists and surfers not to mention Rick Stein, restauranteur and tv chef . . .  and you can't go any farther on mainland Britain. Myths and legends, cream teas and several holidays in this part of the country bring memories of picturesque villages, sandy beaches rugged coasts and wild seas. 

Hitch hiking and staying in youth hostels with Jill gave us many a tale to tell. Leap frogging on the way back from the pub; meeting some of the "Downliners Sect," a group you've probably never heard of and lots of sightseeing.

Later visits were considerably more comfortable and needless to say less unpredictable! 

July 2024: School's out, the roads are crowded, shutters are closed to keep out the blistering sun and visitors are expected. 

Kicked off the month with a well woman visit in Perpignan with Françoise on the 1st followed by a more agreeably spent evening. 

David & Laura, Hans & MM, Jim, Jacques and I installed ourselves at the picnic bench in the square. 4 bottles of fizz, some crisps, sausage rolls, charcuterie and other goodies later, we went over to the bar for the regular "Music at Sunset" evening. Michel played at the end of the evening and had we been indoors, he would have lifted the roof.

There were other events in the village to keep me occupied;

our summer neighbourhood get together, a summer market organised by the Mairie, a photo exhibition at the museum, Bastille Day with all its pomp and ceremony, a DJ in the square and three days of festivities to celebrate the feast of St Madeline,

the patron saint of the village which coincided with Valérie et al's visit. The bar installed an outside screen to show some important rugby match or other, involving Toulouse who, to Jacques' chagrin, lost!

To compensate, I got to meet his Australian friend Coral, about whom I'd heard much and to share a bottle of cava back at his place. The bar laid on some gypsy music which didn't live up to expectations and another concert given by Michel's group; 

this time including François who, when he's not playing rock on his base guitar, plays cello in a chamber quartet.

Days out from the village started with a trip with Nicole to Perpignan where we had lunch at a Lebanese restaurant. The next day Jacques and I had a day at the market in Figueres; Michel and Kob should have come but they where having to search for Kob's passport which they eventually realised had maybe gone into the huge communal rubbish container. With the aid of the responsible authority that sent someone with a small crane, by some miracle they found it!  While this drama was going on, Jacques and I were tucking into a simple lunch.

Another day out the day after involved a long, hot trip to Camprodon via Prats de Mollo for coffee and the Col d'Arès on the frontier to admire the views and remember all those refugees who fled Franco in 1939. Shops were closed for lunch by the time we arrived at our destination so we, too,  had a long, leisurely lunch at the "Can Parra" sitting in the shade of the trees. Food wasn't anything to write home about and was more expensive than we'd anticipated.

The next outing didn't come until a week later when a group of us went to the market in Figueres and for lunch at "Pollo, Pollo" in Empuriabrava that's said to have more canals than Venice. Michel had an acquaintance from Thailand staying for a couple of days. who was one of the most uninteresting people I've met. When he wasn't looking at his phone, even at the table, I might add, he asked questions about the advantages of buying a house in Spain. I wouldn't bet on him getting a bed another time.  

For our last visit to the market this month, there were only the three of us. Hot as it was, Kob drank hot chocolate! There was also a trip to Céret market while the family were here and I joined Michel & Kob for a trip to the one in La Jonquera.

The only other out of the village experience was a first visit to the new "in" place in Céret. Huge investment has enabled the move of the "Cap d'Ona" brasserie from Argelès. Result is a modern brewery, upmarket bar with an impressive list of flavoured beers, shop and a large terrace. On  Thursdays there are warm tapas on offer and music. Beer was light, organic and has understandably been nominated as the best in the world!

Closer to home there were, as usual, plenty of invitations. Topping the list was Hannah & Lees pre wedding paella at the bar accompanied by music from several local musicians, including Michel. The most by a long chalk came from Michel & Kob ; apéros, mojitos, tea, Sunday lunch and dinners, one with Michel's cousin and his Chinese wife who live in the States. There was also dinner at Jacques when he and Suzette touched down for a couple of days and lunch at Martine & Patrick's, who are friends of Nicole, in Canohes.

I did some entertaining, too, along the way; Valérie, her two daughters and the youngest's friend came for two weeks and were joined for a couple of nights by the eldest's boyfriend. As it happens, Maureen & Maxim have friends who live in a nearby village in a very swish house. The photos made me do a double take to think that such young people earn enough to own such a place. They joined us for an apéro before young'uns all went off for dinner in the restaurant. I'd felt just a little pleased with myself to think that I'd saved them buying one there (cos it 'aint cheap) until they said that they'd have another anyway! JJ and Jacques joined us on the terrace for dinner one evening and on another the family cooked dinner, each taking a course.

JJ hosted us all along with other friends, who's faces you might recognise, for an apéro dinatoire to renew our acquaintance with his nephew and wife. Not sure where the young ones have disappeared to but they were invited too.

But as we all know, life is not all pleasure. Heaven forbid that we should become complaisant!

• Talk about a lucky escape. A small plastic curtain hook fell behind the brick filled storage heater; thought «if I just tip it forward I can try and get at it». How stupid was that! The heater, all 100kg of it fell forward and somehow, don’t ask me more as it’s all a blur, I held onto it and placed it on the floor. Could have smashed my feet or fell back and hit my head or worse. So, so lucky but my god, I really did my back in! Jacques C & JJ took about an hour and a half to get it upright by levering it up, cm by cm while I got out of the way and went for a coffee with Françoise. Luckily it was mission accomplished by the time the family (Valérie, Maureen, Emma and Zoé arrived an hour later. Talk about bad timing, I was not feeling too bright. I just about made it through the translation of Hannah and Lee's wedding ceremony at the Mairie later in the day but I was disappointed that I didn’t have the spirit to sparkle. GP's visit, anti inflammatories, pain killers, muscle relaxants, a back support belt and two visits to an osteopath helped a bit but I presumed it would take time to get back to normal. 
• Laser treatment to clear deposits of I don't know what behind the crystalline lens put in after my cataract op.
  
• Delivery of a new oven; so one problem solved but such is the way of the world others were revealed. The rubber gas pipe behind it going to the hob, was 12 years out of date (gulp) and the support for the oven was hanging on by a rusty nail on one side (gulp) . . . the search was on to find someone to sort it all (gulp, gulp). 

As for other stuff . . . coffees in the village, sometimes in Céret, café & croissants on Sunday mornings, sometimes with music from Michel & Patrick, apéros at the bar sometimes with music from Michel, English with Lisa, jigsaws, wordle, journal, papers & magazines and of course, a bit of tv which didn't include the Olympics but did include watching Labour win the British general election. That was an "up" but the strong showing of Reform was certainly a "down." In France, Macron clung on but only with the help of the Left and once again the RN did well. Here they retained their 4 seats in the National Assembly. Definitely a "down!" 😱

Spanish: on hold

😧   Exercise: "Nada!" 

😧   Blog: neglected; actually writing this on 12.10.24

Nature Notes:

Can't believe that I took so few photos of nature here abouts. Can only think it's a result of not being on form and spending many daytime hours behind closed shutters because of the heat.

Weather: 

1st 28°H, 16°L; 31st 34°H, 20°L

Daytime: Max 38°, Min 26°. Night time: Max 27°, Min 16° One day of rain and thunder. Water restrictions continue.

Falling into Autumn

 October 2023: A month of golden sunshine and an extra hour in bed as the clocks go back.

Oh yes, another destination to bring back vivid memories; this time of a month long visit to Mexico in an even earlier life. 1982 with John to be precise. Chichen Itza in particular brings back a memory of talking to a blue-rinsed American woman whilst taking a breather from going around the site. I marvelled at the scale and grandeur of the architecture to which her reply was, "yeah, but whata they done since!"

3,000 miles by bus and despite upset stomachs, mosquito bites, dreadful toilets whilst travelling, it was an unforgetable experience. We met Jay and Mary from the States with whom we we had much in common. It was a holiday frienship which lasted several years; they came to Scotland a couple of times and I went to Austin for a whole other experience; but that's another story

The main event this month was the visit of the Lagendorf Mandoline Orchestra; my friends Ines and Dirk were coming and would be staying on for a week longer to have some holiday. Dirk's cousin and her husband Manfred were coming, too in their camping car and were booked on the site in the village. Even though I was feeling a lack of energy, as well as the usual social activities, there were preparations to be made so that hopefully, all would go smoothly when they arrive in the middle of the month..

 Before that though, there were a couple of dinners at JJ's, a Nepalese curry chez Judith and Trevor a soirée chez Jim and Mags and Erika and Doug's farewell as they're back off to the UK. Sadly there was also a funeral. That of Isobel, who'd been on the Council with Christian; she was only 41 and had a young son.

On the culture front, this month's vernissage appealed as I like naif art. I particularly liked the one with the little yellow train. The artist was self taught and cleverly incorporated small lights into a couple of his works, like the one top left which was inspired by fireflies. Not sure if I told you already, but their first appearance in the Département was here. 

Also managed to fit in a trip to Figueres market with Nicole though sadly, not much time to get on the treadmill. Priorities, eh?

Dirk and his cousins arrived the day before the orchestra. Manfred unfortunately has a mobility problem following an operation on his back so this had to be factored into any of our activities. 

 The first week was fully organised with visits out, just one of which I went on (La Vajol) 

and official concerts to give, just one of which I attended (Reynes). The orchestra also gave an "unofficial" concert at the soirée in the village hall. The Germans provided homemade desserts loaded with cream and we were on savouries. Dirk's gâteau made with nutella was particularly sought after.  In actual fact he did two so we came home with some left overs which could not be resisted. Glad I hadn't seen the list of ingredients as it nearly gave me a heart attack when I did!

There was also a lunch of fideuà al fresco and at the other end of the culinary scale, a trip to the Pablo for a brasserie meal.

After a week of warm sunshine, we waved off the orchestra in the rain for the long haul back to Germany in one go. It had been a very successful visit on cultural, social and personal level. Now with no schedule to respect, life though still busy, became a bit easier.

There were days out in various combinations; Manfred didn't always go though as you can see, he was tempted by ice cream in Figueres, I didn't always join them and sometimes Anke felt that she shouldn't leave Manfred alone too much.

Wish I could lay claim to the paella but I can't. Dirk was it's creator. Well, he is a chef. The meal with Jacques and Suzette which I did wasn't quite as splendid; apart that is, from the left over gâteau which I can't lay clain to either. Manfred & Anke invited us for a BBQ; sausages à gogo and a lot of beer. Oh yes, there was also dinner at Jacques' and our autumn neighbourhood get together which provided an experience of local life. Yes, indeed, there was a lot of eating and drinking and not a lot of exercise.

Just one other thing: as Anke's dog (oh yes, I forgot that there was also Timmy, the Jack Russell that had to be taken everywhere) knocked over a plant outside the bakers. Much to Marie's surprise, a replacement was soon handed over. A good deal, methinks. As you can see from the photo, it was a much healthier looking specimen.

Over the two weeks I was able to do a few things of my own; mammo (all clear), blood tests to try and understand why my hair is coming out. They showed a vitamin D deficiency (even with all our sunshine) and a consequent GP consultaion. Injections were prescribed to help the hair sitution and as well as a non urgent thyroid ultrasound which is just, as well as there's a 6 week wait. Also had a walk with Françoise, coffee with Les Anglaises and 

 JJ's  birthday celebration. And some celebration it was, too! After we finally left the restaurant, the long stayers continued back at his house.

So, all holidays come to an end and this one was no exception. No time to draw breath though. 

That afternoon I accompanied Jacques to a concert given by Cécile in Sandrine's garden up in the mountains. No charge; just bring a bottle/cake for the interval. Sitting in the warm sunshine was a good way to wind down before meeting Izzy, Richard and their girls at the bar for a drink.

Next day, Jacques took Nicole and I to the market in La Jonquera where we came across this colonoy of Coypu in the river.

Ugh! Apparently, they're stewed in the States but I don't know about you, it's not something I'd go for. A stiff, very large G &T at the Marfil Bar brought some much needed comfort! Well, that's my excuse . . .

Weather: Day time temperatures between 23° and 30° , chillier evenings and just a smattering of soon - over rain. 

October's Notes of Nature

Already March

March 2023: Another South American destination, so you'll know from Febrary that I've never been here and if truth be told, highly unlikely to do so.  March has brought more blossom, the reopening of the café, the equinox and the start of summertime. Longer days are on their way.

For a change, I won't start off by talking about food. Much as it makes up a lot of the life here, there are other equally pleaurable things. Like, Nancy's visit for two weeks from the States. Always good to have a breath of fresh air come gusting into "everyday" life even though it was over in a flash. It's always a culture shock when Nancy comes to visit but with her increasing mobility problems the journey is getting more and more difficult so were all wondering for how long she can keep toing and froing.

Let's start with an update on things cultural. 

March is notable for International Women's Rights Day on the 8th and it was marked at the Mairie by the inauguration of a photo exhibition of village woman prior to 1960. The Association, whivh I've fallen out of love with, held its annual women's get-together over coffee and cakes (presumably made by women) served by men. Bought a bunch of raffle tickets in aid of a women's refuge but didn't stop, prefering to join friends of both sexes for coffee at the bar. This month's vernissage at the museum was cancelled at the last moment but we did fare a bit better on the music front. There was a short concert of Cuban music at the Foyer given by "Las Charangas", a Franco/British/Catalan group of musicians which was excellent.

On the 17th, I met Linde in the bar for our traditional St Pat's dram of whiskey. There was musicand plenty of people came in to hear the 7 musicians who'd gathered to play. Left about 20h30; there's nothing like the real thing and it was nothing like the real thing.

One Sunday morning, just before he was due to leave for Thailand, Michel brought croissants and played for a group of us at the bar. It was cold sitting outside but the ambience was warm, chat was animated (when we weren't listening or singing along) and it certainly livened up the square.

Combined exercise with culture another Sunday with Flore; no, you've never heard of her before. She works for the Mairie in "The Maison pour Tous (where Christian's room is) and with real people skills, she is great  asset. This was the first time I'd spent a length of time with her and we got on well. I was relieved to be able to keep up with her on the costal walk between Le Racou and Collioure and back. Flore is both younger and fitter than me! So, that's the exercise bit. 

The culture came by way of a visit to the museum  in Collioure after our picnic overlooking the sea. The museum, created in 1934 by a Russian, has collections of modern and contemporay art with a connection to the town, which was and still is, a magnet to artists both known and aspiring. Have to say, I prefered the garden behind in the grounds of an old Dominican abbey much more enjoyable!

Had a trip to the cinéma in Perpignan with Lynne and Debbie, to see "Empire of Light. Some critiques portray it as overrated but I found it took me along the full spectrum of emotion. At home, I watched "An Irish Goodbye" which was well deserving of its best short film oscar. What a find! You can catch up with it on iplayer.

Dinner at Babette and François's combined food and culture and brought another late night. Conversation ranged from music (inevitable: Babette plays clavicord and other assorted keyboards. François plays cello and guitar), to travel (mostly Greek), language including Greek and Latin (hosts are teachers), politics (par for the course) and "The Crunch ( great delight at the 53 - 10 rugby result).

In addition, as well as morning coffees there were other more substantial get togethers with friends.  

• Chez JJ: Martine did a starter. Michel brought wine, Carmen did a Catalan egg flan, not sure what Jacques brought and I did guggy cake (Sue Lawrence) dowsed in orange liquer, as requested by JJ (the cake not the liquer). Our host opened a pack of olives, nachos and a bottle of cava for the apèro. For the main course he opened two tins of confit duck legs and started some sauté potatoes. Well, Carmen took over the cooking as he was sautéing the potatoes with a lid on the pan! Oh yes, he did some green salad and cheese, too. All very tasty.
• Chez Anita: A tapas style lunch with Jacques and his friend Bernard. Three bottles of cava, a lot of laughs and empty plates later we headed for home, only to reunite a couple of hours or so after to eat soup and drink more cava at Jacques'. This time JJ joined us so it was late to bed.
• Chez Jacques twice more: First for a bowl of homemade soup . . . it was a rich duck and butternut squash one. JJ and Anita were there too, to help out. As usual the apéro lasted about 2 hours and the conversation flowed as fast as the fizz, making it 1am when the evening broke up. Secondly for yet more wild boar. I took a dessert of triple ginger muffins (ground, crystalised and stem) topped with lemon glacé icing, . Had a flash of inspiration ... served the muffins with a whisky mac. Both went down well. Managed to get away from the table and home just after 22h30 
• Chez Kathy for dinner wth JJ and Michel. Left having ben well fed and a reminder to change the clocks
  
• Chez Michel for tea
  
• Chez Nancy for an apéro; just crisps and olives but the wine was plentiful
  
• Chez Nicole for an apéro; just a small glass of sloe gin but plenty of canapés to eat. I was invited back again a couple of weeks later and this time there was a bottle of cava (the one I'd taken the last time!) to oil the vocal cords.
  

•  Chez moi: Tea with Michel when we tucked into the delicious sacher tortes that we'd bought earlier in Figueres
•  An "us only" apéritif dinatoire with Nancy with plenty to eat and plenty to drink. Inevitably the conversation was wide ranging and the hoots of laughter frequent! 
• Dinner for David & Laura, Jacques & Suzette, Michel (only there for the  apéro) and JJ who arrived 30 minutes late after I phoned; he'd not changed his clocks. Loaded the dishwasher, cleared up but couldn't face doing to glasses. Just too bushed.Have come to the conclusion that if I want to have enough energy left to fully enjoy my guests' company, I need to spread the work over a couple of days or do less food.

Ate at the bar with Nancy who treated JJ, Jean and Françoise and I by way of thanks for services rendered before and during her visit and once at the restaurant to celebrate Thiery's 60th birthday. Have to say that I was surprised to get an invite as he's more friendly with Jacques and Michel than me but you'll hear no complaint coming from my mouth. There were 14 of us altogether for dinner though Jacques, Suzette and yours truly had already kicked off the evening at mine with a bit of fizz. There was a glass of champagne there and a three course meal to follow making it a pleasant evening. Thierry seemed happy with how it all went, too. 

Michel and I ended up back a Jacques'. The men played guitar and drank  "Danish Frogman" (!) rum while Suzette & I drank a tisane. Sorry the photo is not very clear but I just wanted to give you proof that it's not a wind up. The one we had in the restaurant (with the agreement of the owners) at 40% proof was enough for me! Even that was a mistake.

2nd May: Need to stop and get organised for tonight's (2nd May as I write) dinner guest but March is almost finished. I'm making progress!😊 Back soon. . . 

3rd. Well, that was tempting fate. I've just taken 2h30 correcting, tweaking and finishing off March and the b..... internet went down and today's work was lost. I'm angry😠, tired😫, unhappy😭 and need to eat lunch. Luckily there are left overs from last night. Back in a bit . . .

Hi again! A big plate of rice (to keep the anger down), an online jigsaw (to empty my head), the sun on my face (to bring back a smile) and I'm good to go again. . . now where was I? Ok, time to talk about getting out from the village.

As well as three trips to the market in Figueres with Michel, two of which finished with lunch at 9 Suprèm there was:

A trip to Port Vendres with Jean and Françoise to visit the renovated ship "Pascual Flores" out of Torrevieja, Valencia, built in 1917 as a salt carrier. Talking of Catalan seafarers, there was an interesting article in the Guardian  reporting on a documentary that aired recently on Spanish tv. It looked at how revenue from the slave trade financed industry and building work in Barcelona. Guell, a patron of the "venerated" Guadí, was one such profiteer.

A day out to Coustouges and beyond with Jacques and Suzette to take Rowena the films that I'd downloaded onto a key for her (good deed box ticked!). We were late starting, then there was the need to get petrol with consequent phone call to Ro, then a rethink and another call to Ro, then we decided to walk down the track rather than confront the potholes. Jacques, who was behind us took the wrong track and never arrived af Ro's! Suzette went in search of him and found him near the top of the track. The key was back with it's owner and as it was already getting late, I set off to meet them but had to turn back as Suzette had left her jacket. If this has been tedious to read, I can tell you it was a darn sight more frustrating living it.

Stopped off in the village where there is a small 12th century church and streets with picturesque names, for a look around. Finally made it to lunch at Maçanet for 15h. Food was good and it was relaxing, sitting outside in the sun. Went for coffee at the Communal café then it was on to Darnius to look in amazement at the lack of water in the lake.  

 The last outing in March was an away-day with David, Laura, Martine and JJ which took us to Banyoles via Espinavessa so as to check out "La Rectoria", a favourite restaurant of bygone days. Found out that it had closed down. Looked at the church, walked down to the spring which had only a trickle of water and apart from a barking dog and a glimpse of an elderly woman sitting in her garden, there was no sign of life. Went onto Esponella where we stopped in a wee shop and café where we had a coffee served by a delightful woman; she told us about " Sa Poma" a restaurant of similar standing as the Rectoria. We made a detour to check it out. It's a stylish place in an old mas. Prices too high for an ordinary Friday lunch and anyway, we had Banyoles in our sights. Had lunch at "La Carpa" (18€, 3 courses + wine) overlooking the lake. As our drivers had an appt at 17h30, there was only time for a short stroll before we needed to head for home. The old town centre will have to wait for another day.

Weather: Started with 12°, rising to 25° then falling back to 23° at the end of the month. Can't complain, can we. Only a few hours of rain and the authorities are starting to get worried.

                      And so the sun sets on March in Chitchatland!